


Apples to Apples

by Okumen



Category: Fire Emblem Three Houses, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21748009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Okumen/pseuds/Okumen
Summary: Felix is dragged into helping out, though begrudgingly.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Ashe Duran/Felix
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22
Collections: FE3H Holiday Gift Exchange





	Apples to Apples

**Author's Note:**

  * For [purple_bookcover](https://archiveofourown.org/users/purple_bookcover/gifts).



> Hello! I don't really know what to say except have a good rest of the year and a good next year!

“Oh- oh, Felix, wait a- oop- ah-”

A voice, familiar and friendly, called Felix to a halt. Felixs had just been about to push the door to the knights hall open, and when he half-turned to look over his shoulder it was with a hand still pressed to the heavy wood. “What are you doing?” Felix asked. He looked at Ashe, who looked distracted as he fumbled with the wicker baskets that he had dropped.

“Could you help me a little? Just to carry these a bit?”

Felix frowned at Ashe. “I have training,” he pointed out. Ashe looked at him with his big eyes, a pleading, innocent look in them. “Please?” Felix let his frown deepen. That way the way he bit the inside of his cheek was less an expression in itself and more a part of his annoyance. Ashe was one of those people unnervingly good at pulling at Felixs strings with little effort, without being aware of it. It was, in Felixs opinion, troublesome.

Finally, Felix sighed deeply. He felt himself cave, and he was then annoyed with himself instead. His hand fell from the door. “Fine, just this once.” The way Ashe lit up in a smile was even more annoying, because Felix felt a small warmth in his chest that he really didn’t need at the sight of it.

“What’s the deal with all these baskets anyway?” Felix questioned. Felix took some of the baskets from Ashe, and Ashe shifted his grip on the ones he had left to be more manageable. Felix fell into step with Ashe. “The head cook asked me to bring them to the apple toft. It’s apple-picking season and there are a lot of them this year.”

“You...” Felixs gaze sharpened as he looked at Ashe. “You were going to rope me into helping out with picking apples, weren’t you?”

“No?” Ashes expression was unconvincing, his tone of voice equally filled with too much innocence to be real. Ashe could lie well, if he so wanted to, Felix knew. So now, he was letting his intentions spill on purpose. He had definitely intended to make Felix not only carry some of the baskets, but also to pick apples. “Why you-... Ashe, I’m not doing that.”

“Okay,” Ashe agreed. In that tone of voice again. _This little....!_ Felix grumbled at Ashe, “You’re a scheming little fox, Ashe.” Ashe chuckled, and pointed out, “I can still eat rowanberries without complaint though.” Felix huffed. “That’s hardly a surprise.” Ashe ‘hmmm’ed in a questioning tone. “What do you mean?” Felix glanced sideways at Ashe. “You barely ever complain in the first place.” At his side, Ashe shrugged. “I suppose not. I guess it’s because of how I grew up.” How he grew up.. Maybe so. Felix scowled when Ashe chuckled again. “What?” Ashe shook his head. “No, it’s nothing.” Felix didn’t believe him. “ _Ashe._ ” Ashe smiled at Felix, a blinding, toothy smile, and Felix felt that it was unfair that he would do that. “Don’t worry about it.” Then he added, “Here we are!” before Felix had any time to insist that Ashe tell him what was so funny. He still would have insisted, but they were soon not alone any more. “Marianne! Are you here to help too?” Felix heard Ashe ask, and Felix saw first the hem of a skirt shift, among the trees and a person — Marianne — move into sight. A shy, awkward expression on her face, her downcast eyes barely visible behind her bangs. “Yes... He-hello, Ashe... Felix, too..”

“That’s right! We’re picking looots of apples for Dorte!” Felix inwardly cursed- outwardly, he showed annoyance at the second girl that had appeared. “It’s rare to see you out working, Hilda,” he commented. Hilda beamed- not as purely as Ashe had, but who was comparing? (Felix was, why was he, anyway- how annoying.) Felix put down the baskets he had carried there, by the ones Ashe had placed on the ground. “Not as rare to see you out helping others, Felix,” Hilda retorted. “But it’s great! The more the merrier! And even more apples for Dorte! Isn’t that great, Marianne? Felix is helping, too!”

“Um.. Y-yes, thank you, Felix..,” Marianne quietly said, agreed, blushed, and Felix was trapped. Damn that Hilda. How had she found out that Felix had a hard time saying no to the small, cute ones that gave off an air of needing protection? Felix grumbled wordless noises, and rubbed a hand through his bangs. “Alright, whatever, fine, I’ll help. But just for a while.”

“Wonderful!” Hilda exclaimed. She grabbed hold of him and with more strength than she usually pretended dragged him along. “Let go of me,” Felix snapped, and tugged. Hildas grasp was solid, until she purposefully released him.

And then there he was, a basket in his hands and trees surrounding him on all sides. On a ladder leaning against a branch heavy with apples is Ashe, passing apples, one after the other, into the basket he rested against his hip. Nearby Felix heard Hilda chatter away with Marianne, though more at her than with her, he supposed, until he heard the soft murmur of Mariannes voice. With, then.

Felix felt an approach from above, and flinched away. Upon looking, he saw that it was only Ashe, with an apple in the hand reaching out. “Are you alright, Felix?” Felix huffed, and he relaxed slightly. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Ashe tilted his head sideways. His voice was a little uncertain- no, more concerned than that. “Well.. You were staring off in the distance. Like you were somewhere else.”

“Perhaps I want to be somewhere else.”

Ashe peered at him, and climbed down from the ladder he had been standing on. “If that were really the case you wouldn’t be here in the first place. From what I know, if you really don’t want to do something, you won’t do it.” He pushed his shoulder against Felixs, and beamed at him. A weird, soft, too squishy feeling pressed against Felixs ribs. “Come on, I’ll show you how to pick the apples.” At that, Felix frowned. It was easier to focus on that, than to just ignore the stupid warmth inside him. “Don’t you just _pick them?_ I can’t see how there’s anything special about it.”

Ashe laughed. Cheerful. Amused. “Yes and no. You twist them a little- look, like this- and if they come off easy they’re ready to be picked. If you have to pull they’re not ready yet, then you let them be. Like- oh, here, like this one. The ones that are ready to be picked comes off easily, and the ones not ready resist. Feel for yourself, here.” Ashe grasped Felixs hand in his, and guided him to one of the apples. Felix hoped that the heat that he felt in his face didn’t show.

Still with his hand brushing against Felixs, Ashe ensured that Felix knew the difference between apples ready to be plucked from the tree and those that were not ready for it just yet. It was a strange, oddly comfortable feeling that Felix sank into, once he was sure of what to do. Ashe chatted on about various things, happy to fill the silence together with Hilda as Marianne was quietly smiling at what was being said, and Felix too was more at ease not being expected to keep up with the various topics and make inputs. He wasn’t as bad as some of the others when it came to talking, but he was still more comfortable with silence than with meaningless chatter.

“Thank you,” Felix heard, and for a few moments he didn’t realize that the words had been directed at him. When he looked over at Ashe, safely back on the ground, filled basket in his hands leaning against his thighs, and dusk on his freckles- then Felix realized that the evening was quickly coming upon them and that he had been staying in this apple toft for much longer than he had intended. “Ashe...” Ashe blinked rapidly at the suddenly darkening tone in Felixs voice. “Yeah?” “I have missed out on _hours_ of training, because of you.” Ashe laughed, only a hint of nervosity in his tone and expression.“You could count this as a different form of training. I bet you your muscles will be sore from this tomorrow.” Ashe grinned, hefting the basket against a hip so he could hold it and the whole burden it contained with one hand, propped up against his body. “Also,” Ashe added as Felix groaned in annoyance. “they’re so tasty.” He held out his hand, a few apples held in it with what could only be practised ease, with how uncomfortable it looked to hold that many apples of that size in one hand. “Take some for later.”

Felix still grumbled under his breath when he took the apples out of Ashes hand. Then Ashe was very close, and his lips pressed quick as a whisper against Felixs cheek. Felixs eyes widened, he watched Ashe turn away trying to act as if nothing had just happened. Felix hoped that his blush was hidden in the dusk, though if the colour that had risen among Ashes cheeks were of any indication, it was likely that Felixs face could be seen with the flushed colour on it as well.

Felix sputtered, a few moments at a loss for words- still at a loss for words as he grabbed a filled basket and followed. “Ashe!” the name spilling from his lips the only thing that he knew to say, though he wasn’t certain if it was in protest of the quick kiss or of the pretence thereafter.

* * *

“Hey!” Ashe protested, and pouted at Felix. Felix ignored it, and instead kept walking. He had snatched most of Ashes burden from his hands as he passed, now the worn and repaired wicker baskets in his grasp instead of in Ashes. Ashe followed him, only having to take a few hasty steps to catch up with Felix and nail him down with his gaze. He didn’t succeed in making him stop, succeeding instead in making Felix chuckle. Ashe was about as intimidating as a kitten even now.

“You weren’t planning on doing it all by yourself, were you?” Felix asked Ashe. Ashe had already been nearing the apple toft when Felix had spotted him, and had whisked away most of the baskets that he had carried. “We’re short-handed right now so it’s fine,” Ashe commented. His pout seemed more one retained for teasing reasons, however. “Do you even remember how to do this, Felix?” Felix huffed, amused rather than annoyed. “Of course, I don’t forget.” Ashes facial expression shifted, and he turned a smirk at him, amused as much as Felixs look was. “Sure you don’t.” Felix raised an eyebrow Ashes way. “Should I show you? Teach you how to twist the ripe apple _just so_?” Ashe crossed his arms over his chest, relieved of the burden of baskets, now standing at their feet in the uncut grass. Felix, in a moment of weakness, stuck his tongue out in a faux-mocking way. And Ashe laughed.

Then he was close, and Felixs back was pressed against a sturdy tree trunk, and Felix felt his heart beat hard, heard it in his ears, felt his cheeks heat up. Ashe was _so close_ that their bodies almost, almost touched, without their clothes rubbing against clothes.

And then Ashe had pulled away, stepped a step away, and held a perfectly ripe apple in his hand. He had reached past Felix to grasp it, the movement bringing them so close and the friction of cloth against cloth so loud in Felixs ears. His front felt cold, at the lack of presence not even half a step away.

“I think I might remember.” Ashe wore a cheeky grin on his face, more mature than the cheeky grins he sometimes had worn while they were still students. More... intense, purposeful. Felix cursed in his mind, pushing away from the tree he had so suddenly been leaning against. “So it seems.” He didn’t say anything further, right that moment. They, for some minutes, picked apples in silence, as Felixs heart calmed and his cheeks cooled — mostly — until the autumn air wrapped its comforting stillness around them and they chatted amicably for some time, as they kept on picking apples.

There was something that one of them had said. At that moment Felix didn’t recall what exactly it was- because he was far too occupied with the sensation of lips pressing against his, hands grasping his waist, and his own hands gripping tightly into soft hair. They’re the same height now; something that Felix has noticed before but also hasn’t thought enough about. When Ashe kissed him here before, five years ago, he had had to lean up to reach Felixs cheek, but now they stood pressed close with nobody having to reach for the other. Not in that way. They both had reached for one another for the embrace that they shared, or at least that was what Felix would think himself remember, later.

At that time, all he heard was the sound of his heartbeat, of their mingling breaths, and all he could feel was strand upon strand slipping around his fingers, of lips fitting against lips, of a tree against his back, of Ashes body pressing against his.

Of the heat, only made bearable by the cool autumn breeze.

**Author's Note:**

> On the fox and rowanberries thing. It’s a Finnish/Swedish proverb, “sour said the fox about the rowanberries”, though apparently grapes are used instead of rowanberries in English? From what I’ve gathered.


End file.
